Office Fitness Tips

Stabilize Your Shoulders for Better Desk Posture

Larry — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:17:52 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to stabilize shoulders so that they can best serve you at your desk. The rolled-forward posture that typically accompanies desk work leads to pain between the shoulder blades, sore necks, headaches, and other afflictions. Tucking your shoulders back and getting them to lie down on your torso [...]

“The Case for Working With Your Hands”

Larry — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:09:45 +0000

One way to deal with the vagaries of office work is to not deal with the vagaries of office work. In The Case for Working With Your Hands, Matthew Crawford contrasts his work as a motorcycle mechanic with inane desk work. More generally, he talks about the differences between “real” work (like construction trades) and [...]

Office Rats Need Shiny Eyes, Too

Larry — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:43:36 +0000

This item was originally published when this blog was known as “The Office Rat.” Empowerment lessons from the factory floor When Brian Utting held a ceremony to mark the closing of his massage school (my alma mater), among the many speakers was Hank Queen. I didn’t know anything about Hank at the time, but I [...]

Laptop Ergonomics

Larry — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 04:42:15 +0000

Laptop computers have now replaced desktop computers as many office worker’s main computer. This presents a challenging ergonomics problem. Since the laptop keyboard, pointing device, and screen are connected as a single unit it is impossible to have both a relaxed shoulder/arm/wrist position and a level neck and head posture. If you raise the laptop [...]

Tame Anxiety with a Media Fast

Larry — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:49:00 +0000

Even in the best of times, constant exposure to news media can make us anxious. When times are challenging, reading the news can feel like standing on the edge of an abyss. So don’t do it. Don’t read the paper. Don’t watch TV. Don’t listen to radio news. Don’t read Google News, CNN.com, or MSNBC. [...]